The rule was established during the Macri administration and made controls for the reception of recycled waste from abroad more flexible and reduced.
The norm was criticized by many sectors, which among other things pointed out that under it turned the nation open-air dump.
The August 2019 decree stated that the ban on importing garbage would be uphheld, but had ambiguities to facilitate the entry of "recovered waste", that is, "those that can be reused for other purposes.
This meant it was no longer a requirement for the country of origin to prove the the waste wasn’t hazardous to the environment and population”.
At the time, the president of the Argentine Association of Environmental Lawyers, Enrique Viale, was one of staunchest critics when he pointed out that with this regulation Argentina became "a sort of dump of the world".
After the repeal, Argentina's current environment minister, Juan Cabandié, assured that between the enactment of the law last year and its repeal in mid-February, "40,000 tons" of waste entered Argentina.
According to Minister Cabandié, Argentina has "a large number of open-air dumps" and he stressed that his portfolio is working towards "a cultural change in society”, where the state has to carry out campaigns to separate waste and to change the habits of the population.
